


The Pretty Face I Waited For

by MissDelirious



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Meet and Greets, Photo Shoots, Photographs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 03:50:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3713866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissDelirious/pseuds/MissDelirious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meeting Stephen Amell at the Toronto Fan Expo and all the nerves start to kick in as I realize this may be the best days of my life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pretty Face I Waited For

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a hella good true story :)  
> (Also was an essay i wrote for a class)

On August 30, 2014, I waited in a line as the heat messed with my nerves. I’m surrounded by people, and everyone is talking at once. Time felt like it was at its slowest, making one minute feel like five. My gut was in knots, and the moment felt surreal, like I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew exactly. The two older woman in front of me talking to my sister in-law kept coming into focus, and drowning out at the same time, like I was behind glass and their voices were muffled. I kept smiling because of all the excitement, and the nerves coming from my stomach. “This is a dream, it isn’t happening, this isn’t real,” was the only thing it my head repeating itself. I only ever paid attention when a man yelled, “Stephen Amell line move up!” my stomach was doing flips, “Dear god, it is real, it is happening!” I yelled in my head. My heart was beating so fast, it was as if I didn’t have one at all. 

My sister looked at me with a face I’ve seen on Joker many times, “Are you ready?!” My mouth became immediately dry, and I panicked, “NO! I NEED TO PEE! WHERES THE WASHROOM?” I needed to kill time and standing there made time freeze. She just shrugged, and I ran out of the line looking for the washroom.

When I came back, we moved up, we were probably 5th in line. I saw his face through the curtains, it was such a beautiful face, it made me want to puke. I imagined him talking in his “Arrow voice,” being all ruff and husky. My eyes started to water from excitement, but I told myself I wanted a nice picture, so I shouldn’t mess up my makeup. I told my sister to take the first picture, but she refused, wanting to see my reaction to him.

I was next.

I see him wave good-bye to the women my sister was talking to before. Then his gorgeous smile faced me. I felt my hands shake but as I walked up we both spoke at once.

“Hi, how are you?-““-Can I have a hug?"

I felt stupid for interrupting him, but he stopped and smiled. “Sure,” he said. 

I heard his voice so clearly, and it was the opposite from his character on the show. His voice was soft and shy, like a child who is embarrassed and hides behind his mother, yet it also sounded like he was trying not to wake a baby from sleep. 

I was melting. My legs would give out any moment, and that’s when he went for a hug. That was the best hug ever. I felt every muscle in his body move under my hands. This was not happening. As we broke apart from the hug, we kept one arm around the other, and looked into the lens of the camera and smiled. A big flash followed. We looked at each other one last time, and he said his good bye and thank you, as I returned them.

As soon as I turned around, I faced the black curtain and begin to tear up. Another flash went behind me, and my sister was at my side with my bag.

“He’s such a sweetie,” she sighed. 

The women who had their picture taken before us was still freaking out and walked towards the picture pick up area. I was having a minor attack, as I walked past them with no words and trying to keep all my tears in. They both asked if I was okay, I just nodded and kept walking. 

When I got to the black table, I saw a picture with a woman in a colourful dress standing beside Stephen, “Oh god, that’s me!” I said with my voice cracking. I looked at my sister’s photo, and it was the same as mine, but she was squeezing him so tight that she gave him a love handle. We started laughing at it, and my nerves cooled down. Today was a good day. 

***

The next day, August 31st, we went back for a second day at the Fan Expo. My sister and I waited in a huge line up for the Q&A with Stephen Amell. The wait wasn’t as anxious as the day before, but I was still excited to see my hero again. We waited for more than an hour, and by the time we got inside the hall, it was packed. I sat so far that you couldn’t see him in the video I took. He answered a few questions about his show, Arrow, and it was done in about an hour. I realized how sweet and nice he is, Stephen was using his fame for charities, but wasn’t a douche that just wants to be popular. 

After wondering around in the convention, my sister saw Stephen signing autographs, and she offered to pay for me to get one but I refused. She paid for my photo with him, and I think that was enough. Somehow she convinced me and I was standing in line. A woman came up to us and gave us a piece of paper to write our name, so he could write our name on the photo. 

After 10 minutes of talking to my sister about god knows what, Ricardo, a good friend from school, passes by dressed in a Fan Expo shirt. We both freaked out when we saw each other. He told me he got the shirt from his friend, who was volunteering and they switched shirts.

A moment later, when I was alone with my sister again, Chaina, another friend from school, came out of the blue. We hugged and I introduced her to my sister. She told me how she lost her cousin. She said how she was going through a crowd of people, and looked behind her, and realized her cousin was gone. Chaina was now just wondering around, until she found me. 

She then stayed with us until we came to the front of the line. I didn’t feel as nervous as the day before, because Chaina was talking to me. “So who is this guy?” she asked.  
God damn it, Chaina. “He’s from a show I watch. Arrow? C’mon you should have heard of it.”

“Yeah, no. I have no clue,” she said in her lazy voice. She looked half asleep, even though she just lost her cousin, and didn’t care. “I didn’t lose her, I misplaced her,” she would correct. 

When I got to the front, I picked a picture. The woman grabbed the picture and stuck a sticky note with my name on it, she slid it to the left, where Stephen was. He was talking to fans, and signing their picture. I stood to the side, as my sister paid.

“Damn, Stephen Amell you is gorges,” Chaina said to herself, taking a thousand pictures of him. 

The fans left, and it was my turn. I walked up with the biggest smile on my face, Stephen looked down at the picture and my name.

“Hi, Julie,” he said with a smile. 

I looked at Chaina, and she knew I was dying inside, “OMG he said your name, it’s meant to be,” she whispered sarcastically, as she continued taking pictures.  
He glanced up, while signing his name, and said, “I like your ears.”

“Thanks. I love your face. I love your everything,” it came out in a rush. It didn’t pass through my brain, it just came out. He just laughed to himself, while I gave myself a mental slap to the face realizing I was wearing cat ears. I felt my cheeks blush, and became super nervous again. Hearing Chaina laughing in the background didn’t help. 

He finished signing my picture, and was about to say something as he was putting his hands in front of him, but of course I talked over him. Again. 

“Can I have a high five?” I asked.

He paused with the smile never leaving his face, “Yes, of course, but first,” he grabbed my right hand and held it, as he looked into my eyes. I grabbed my other hand and put it on top. 

We stared into each other’s eyes and I felt like my face was on fire, but I knew what he was doing. He was thanking me, I could tell. His eyes were talking to mine in a wordless conversion. He was saying, “Thank you, for being a fan, and supporting me.” It felt like we stayed like that for a whole five minutes, but I knew it was only about 10 seconds. 

He let go, but kept the smile. He put the picture in front of me, “Here you go, have a nice day.”

I stepped to the side shaking, and my cheeks hurt from smiling but I couldn’t stop. I was too excited, I don’t remember what I said after that, but I remember him looking at my sister, and greeting himself to her.

He turned to look at me, and said, “You’re still here?”

“I’m with her,” I pointed to my sister.

He had a shocked face, “Oh you’re together,” he smiled, and rolled his eyes at himself. 

As my sister got his autograph, and we said our goodbyes again, I yelled back, “Please kiss Felicity!”

He gave me a grin, and yelled back, “Oh, I will!” 

We walked away and my brain started malfunctioning, was it because he said he would kiss Felicity? Or because he held my hand? Or looked into my eyes? I don’t know what, but I couldn’t walk in a straight line anymore, like my brain was rebooting itself. My sister even noticed he wrote “XOXO” on my autograph, and he didn’t do it to hers. 

For the rest of the day, I was in La La Land, and kept babbling just like Felicity in Arrow. She always had slip ups, and would run her mouth on forever, and now I know why she did that, because it happened to me. Maybe she wasn’t acting when he comes into the scene. Now that was the best day ever. Nothing will ever beat that, no other actor will beat how I met Stephen Amell.


End file.
